Toronto: Danforth shooter was ‘armed for war,’ sources say

“He was very proficient. I can’t imagine he could change magazines on the run, avoid jamming and hit targets as accurately as he did, had he not had some firearms training and experience.”

“I heard the reports of him being mentally ill, and I don’t discount that as a possibility. But I will say in my years of dealing with emotionally disturbed people I have never seen anybody operate any kind of weapon as well as he did.”

If not for his encounter with Toronto Police slowing him down, Faisal Hussain had enough firepower to do even more damage than he did.

The list of those injured or killed in Sunday’s shooting was already staggering, but the Sun has learned it could have easily been more because Hussain had more bullets with him.

Many more.

“He dumped four on the street and into restaurants, but when he was found — in his messenger bag — he had three more full clips ready to go,” said a source.

Sources say he was firing a .40 calibre Smith and Wesson handgun.

“He had seven magazines with him and each magazine carries between 12 and 15 bullets,” said a police source. “It could have easily been 100 bullets or more.”

Police believe he fired more than 40 and up to 60 out the magazines he spent.

“There were seven shells at Danforth and Hampton and more all along the roadway,” said the source.

The Sun has also learned that Hussain extensively fired at a Toronto Police 55 Division police car.

“He shot the s–t out of it,” said a copper. “It was absolutely crazy. It’s full of bullet holes. The SIU put a blue tarp over it and took it away.”

As the public awaits the autopsy results on Hussain, police are also wondering — in addition to him shooting himself — if he was hit by police gunfire.

“It could very well be,” said an officer. “We engaged him. We returned his fire.”

Had they not, he had three more loaded clips to utilize.

“He was armed for war,” said a source. “The cost of having that weaponry would be extensive. That kind of stuff does not come cheap.”

One officer said in his years on the job, he has never come across a shooter better with a gun than Hussain.

“He was very proficient,” said the officer. “I can’t imagine he could change magazines on the run, avoid jamming and hit targets as accurately as he did, had he not had some firearms training and experience.”

Said another: “I heard the reports of him being mentally ill, and I don’t discount that as a possibility. But I will say in my years of dealing with emotionally disturbed people I have never seen anybody operate any kind of weapon as well as he did.”

Police sources also say they found a firearm in his Thorncliffe Park Blvd. apartment, and “lots of lots of ammunition.”…